Customer Service from Chase Bank is beyond STOOPID!!!

[Clay Mosby]

A little back story:

My Mom passed in June of 2019. As her Power of Attorney I took her death certificate to the Chase branch she used and closed out her accounts and retrieved her safe deposit box.

 

Three months later I get a statement from Chase letting me know that there is a balance of $0.02  I notify them again that she has passed. And yet for the next 3 years every quarter or so I would receive a statement notifying me of the balance of $0.02

 

Then yesterday I received notification that her checking account would in August be changed to another type of checking account and that she would be charged $25/mo service fee. 

 

I called the number supplied and after a brief session of phone tag ended up talking to a representative who actually spoke clear, unaccented English! After verfying the account and several sessions on hold, he basically told me I needed to take the death certificate to the branch to close her accounts! I repeated, again, that I HAD taken said certificate TO The Branch and Closed Her Accounts. After another brief hold he came back and basically repeated himself. 

 

That was it! Hoping in fact that this call HAD been recorded, I told him "You know what, forget it. I give up. I want to thank you for your complete failure to help in solving this issue. From now on anything I receive from Chase is going straight into the shredder."  Then I hung up on the SOB.  I should have asked him if he was born that stupid or if he had to practice.

 

I mentioned this to my cousin, and she had a suggestion I plan to try if they continue to send mail to her through my address. She suggested I black out all addresses and barcodes on the envelope, then write "Deceased - Return To Sender" and send it back.

 

Every time I think people can't really be that stupid, they yell 'Hold my beer and watch this!"

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Having survived (barely!) a career in banking, I can honestly and sincerely tell ya, "You ain't seen nuttin'!"  

 

I gotta say, it's just as bad from the inside.  
 

 

 

[Sedalia Dave]

I’m betting that the accounts were not closed out the first time you went to the bank. 
 

[Badlands Bob #61228]

They will eventually close the account for not paying the monthly service charge.  Then they will ruin your deceased mothers credit rating.  This of course will be after spending over $100 on postage and letters trying to collect.

[Muggle]

I don't use any of the popular banks. Their customer service are usually sheety at best.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Wells Fargo is bad too.

[Sedalia Dave]

45 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Wells Fargo is bad too.

B of A is too. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

When I first went overseas I opened an account at a bank on base.  This was in August or September.  A few weeks later I ordered some thing form a couple of well known department stores for Christmas for my wife and son.

 

The checks came back for insufficient funds.

 

 I went to the bank and asked what happened to my money. The teller was no help so I asked for a manager and was told he was at lunch.  Okay, so was I.  I started to raise hell and they threatened to call the MPs.  I told them to go ahead.

 

A Colonel was waiting patiently in line (hearing this whole brouhaha) and he came over and told the teller to get someone there right now and told me to clear the line.  I did, he finished his business and sat down beside me.  After five minutes he told the clerk to get SOMEONE over there to help me.  The manager miraculously came back from lunch and asked mi into his office and the Colonel asked if I'd mind if he came in with me.

 

I was told that I had closed my account on such and such a date and I told him that was the date I had OPENED the account.  Show me when I opened tha account that they had closed.  He couldn't do it.

 

I informed him that I had my checks deposited every month and that I had "X" number of dollars somewhere in his bank and now I wanted it back.  I got a run around that said They would have to find out where the money was and that they would end my  check when they sorted it all out.

 

The Colonel asked this manager if he knew him.  "Yes sir!"

 

 "Give the Lieutenant his money right now.  You people screwed this up, fix it."

 

The manger said it would take a day to get a check cut and I told him I didn't trust his bank and that I wanted cash....right now.  Before he could answer the Colonel told him to get me the cash.  The man started to argue and was told (roughly as I recall) that "I am the Office In Charge of the Solders and Sailors Relief Fund on the island and I can move their account in a blink."

 

I left with the cash in less than five minutes, thanked the Colonel, and deposited my money in another bank on a different base.

 

Fourteen months later I finally got out of the terrible assignment I had and went to work as a Company Commander under this same Colonel...one of the best jobs I ever had in the Army

[Eyesa Horg]

Real nice that you got that support from the Colonel. Bet your funds would have been gone otherwise.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Went to my local bank to get a cashiers check.  Big line and only one teller.  When I FINALLY got to the window it was an old Indian (Hindu) lady in a sari.  I told her who I wanted the check made out to and for how much.  Did not register with her.  Gave her a piece of paper with everything written down.  She looked down at the paper and read the first letter and then with one finger typed "M".  She then paused looked down and after a while typed the second letter "G".  Any so on for every letter and blank space in the name and for every number in the amount.  Large city, large bank but even they can't get anyone reliable to work there.  I was listening to a local radio show and they had the CEO of a local company on.  They asked how are things different now and pre-pandemic.  He said that employees now spend an average of an hour a day in HR complaining.  They don't like a dress code.  They don't like coming to work at regular hours.  Someone raised their voice to them and hurt their feelings, etc.

[Three Foot Johnson]

In 2001, my mother died and I was going through a divorce from hell at the same time. Fast forward - as part of the divorce settlement, I was ordered to pay off her car. Not a lot of money, two or three thousand IIRC. I went to our Wells Fargo bank branch with cash in hand and attempted to negotiate to drop the late fees for the past three months that she hadn't paid. Nope, no way, no how, "We can't possibly waive that $75". After working my way up to the branch manager, who gave me the same answer, I paid off the loan, including the $75 late fees. THEN I pulled out a life insurance check for a *substantial* amount of money, showed it to him, asked him to close my account, and said, "I'm going to drive up the street to the first bank I see and open a new account with this check". 

 

"Uh, Mr. Johnson, perhaps we could discuss this matter a bit further". 

Twenty minutes later, the staff at the bank up the street were toasting me with champagne and caviar.  Or maybe it was a toaster and a book of free car wash coupons, I don't remember... 

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

You should have stopped at customer service. There is no such thing anymore.

[sassnetguy50]

4 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Wells Fargo is bad too.

The worst I've ever dealt with as a customer and account holder.  They used to require a thumb print to cash a check over $1,000.  

 

Chase credit card customer service has been great.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

My hometown bank has been sold and renamed about 4 times.  This latest bank merger sent me a fat letter with a big monthly checking account rate increase buried in the fine print.   I moved all checking to USAA.  This was about 2 years ago and they have been very good.  No charge for checking, checks and they even pay me a few pennies in interest.   They actually answer the phone and an English speaking person actually attempts to help you.  If you're eligible, I'd recommend USAA banking.  I'm done with the Monster Mega Banks.

[Rip Snorter]

I still have my old big bank, and they do a good job.  Because of economic conditions I joined a local credit union.  I have been delighted with service and they pay a little interest on savings.  The interest rate on a Visa Card obtained through them (though I pay the balance monthly) is the lowest I have seen in years.  I would advise anyone who can to get a little account going.  Local and convenient.

[Blackwater 53393]

In conversation with friends, last night, I was told that one of my friends mother had recently passed and that she had an unpaid traffic ticket.  In closing her affairs, my friend notified the authorities of the lady’s passing and advsed them that the ticket wouldn’t be paid since there was no estate and no money.

 

The official on the phone said that that would cause trouble. “She won’t be able to renew her driver’s license or purchase registration for her car!”

 

My friend replied that, “My mother is DEAD! She won’t be needing a driver’s license and can no longer drive!”

 

The idiotic bureaucrat NEVER DID get the message that the lady had passed away!!

[Badlands Bob #61228]

1 hour ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

The official on the phone said that that would cause trouble. “She won’t be able to renew her driver’s license or purchase registration for her car!”

The proper response would have been, "Ok, she can live with that".  

[bgavin]

It's a crap shoot.
It depends entirely upon the individual you get stuck with.

I had my mom' accounts at Chase Bank when she took the one-way ride to Dementiaville.
I worked directly with a VP at the local branch, who had the same problems with her own mother.
I got SO much help from the VP.

With all the grief you got, you would think this is their first rodeo.
It isn't... it is just plain incompetence, and is VERY wide spread.

When I paid off our house, the numbskull teller deposited a $120k payoff check into our impound account.
A month later, I got a dunning notice for late house payment.
The bank manager tried to defend the numbskull, but I wasn't having any of it.
They have a chain of command, and if they don't know a process, they can ask their chain of command.

My wife had your same problems with a minuscule amount like yours.
She tried and tried and tried, until they put her dead mother into collection.
Yes, these people reproduce and vote.

[Alpo]

Several years ago I have a call on my answering machine. Teller at the bank tells me I need to come down and give them $200.

 

I ignored it. Not even my bank. Why the hell would I give them $200?

 

Had a message on my machine every day for a week, telling me I needed to come down and give them $200. The next week there was a message from the head teller, repeating the I owe them $200 mantra.

 

So I called them. I had given my mother a check for $200. She took it to her bank and deposited it. The teller lost it. Since they no longer had the check, they could not get the $200 from my bank. So I needed to come give them another $200 check.

 

I don't think so Skippy. I told them that I used to work at a bank. There's this thing called a bonding service. If one of the bank employees loses money, or for that matter steals money, the bonding service replaces the money. It's an insurance policy. Yes your bonding premium increases, but that's not my problem.

 

I never did give them the $200. I told them not to call me again because I was not going to give them the $200. I have no idea how they resolved that.

[bgavin]

I was the resident engineer on graveyard at a large bank in San Francisco.
We had some 30-odd checking sorting machines in those days.
Prime pass capture run to around 8 million checks per night.

They had to shut down the entire floor... a $1 million check was lost.
Found it in a trash can.

[Clay Mosby]

15 hours ago, bgavin said:

It's a crap shoot.
It depends entirely upon the individual you get stuck with......
 

When I went to the branch to close Mom's account, the branch manager was very helpful and polite. Since I was also closing out the account for her safe deposit box there were extra forms and so forth that had tstuffed back into the mailbox.o be filled out, and at least 2 copies of the death certificate were required.

 

The only thing I can think of is the fact that because it was mid-way through one of there reporting cycles or some such silliness it took a few days to get the final couple of dollars out of the account. Perhaps that's what screwed up their computers. This was also mentioned to the moron I was dealing with.

 

Like I told him, I'm done trying to get them to understand. Everything I get from them is going to be marked DECEASED - RETURN TO SENDER and 

[Buckshot Bob]

I belong to two different credit unions. They both are great , I stopped using banks years ago , I went though a bank for the first home loan I had and a couple years after purchasing it interest rates dropped enough to warrant refinancing it . I always had my payment debited out of my savings account. Turns out when the bank filled out the paperwork they screwed up my account number so it didn’t get paid . I didn’t know it happened until I started getting dead beat calls . It was a major pia getting them to drop the late charges. It took getting to the manager of the local branch. Between the two credit unions I belong to I’ve never found a better deal at a bank 

[bgavin]

Mom had all her accounts at Chase.
When she caught the train to Dementiaville, she stopped paying all her bills, caretakers, etc.
Chase told me as soon as they got notification from the doctors that Mom was now incapable, I could take control and pay her bills.

Kaiser San Diego proved that incompetence is not confined to banks.
Their first diagnosis was never entered into the Kaiser medical system, so no record was found.
They kept her 72 hours on a 5150 (a story in itself) before they made the (unrecorded) diagnosis.

Next, they were given strict instructions that a formal diagnosis had to be a wet (original) copy, with two doctor signatures, and their medical ID numbers.
It took Kaiser three (read: 3) tries of overnighting this form to me, before they sent a wet copy, then a copy with both signatures, and finally a wet copy with both signatures and both medical numbers.

When I presented this form to Chase, they immediately opened the accounts so I could pay her bills.
Especially in San Diego, this most certainly was not Kaiser's first rodeo for dementia declarations.

[Trailrider #896]

My wife has a small checking account at a different bank then what we use for most of our financial transactions.  She went to her local branch on a weekday, but it was closed.  So, she went to another branch down the street, but it was also closed, except for the drive up window, which wouldn't be able to give her the information she wanted!  Explanation? They are "short-staffed"!  So is our trash collection outfit! So is the outfit that is supposed to send a cleaning lady in once a week to help my wife!  Nobody needs or wants to work anymore. They can make more money collecting unemployment!   Apparently the whole country "woke" up one morning (back in January), and this is what we get! 

[Blackwater 53393]

Bread and circuses

[Muggle]

Chase bank used to be a good bank, I saw them go from good to bad. As soon as the customer rolled in and they had numbers. It all went downhill.